Fox News reports that 24 states have resorted to intimidation and idle threats to try to get Hollywood to stop showing smokers in their films. While attorneys General from 24 states submitted a petition asking Hollywood studios to snuff out tobacco, they didn't go so far as to say what would happen if Hollywood producers didn't comply.

"We're not saying any law has been broken," said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer...

Well then what the hell are you saying? If no laws are being broken, why are lawyers wasting taxpayer time and money on it? I wonder if these are the same states that jacked up cigarette prices to try to balance their budgets. If that is the case, they should be encouraging people to smoke, in the interest of fiscal well being.

To back up their claim, the AGs enlisted some junk science. They hold up a "study" that purports that smoking on the big screen "causes" children to light up. Check out this gem.

Twenty-two of those exposed to the least on-screen smoking took up the habit, compared with 107 in the highest exposure group, a fivefold difference. However, after taking into account factors known to be linked with starting smoking, such as rebelliousness, the effect was reduced to a threefold difference.

How arbitrary can you get?! Taking into account "rebelliousness", and using a figure pulled directly out of their ass, they adjusted the numbers from 500% to 300%. Measuring "rebelliousness" must be a proven science, because they seemed to know exactly how much it skewed the numbers. So what they are saying is that of the 107 kids in the second group, about 40 were known to take up smoking because of "rebelliousness", while the other 60-something were clearly influenced by what they saw on the screen.

I'm going to have to throw the bullshit flag on that one.